Moscow Mayor Luzhkov Barred From the Ukraine

The Honourable Yuri Luzhkov (1936- ), Mayor of Moscow

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On Monday, the Ukrainian Security Service barred Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov from entering the former Soviet republic because of his “provocative’ statements regarding the ownership of the Black Sea city of Sevastopol”. The Moscow mayor made strong calls for the disputed ownership of a Russian naval base on the Crimean peninsula to be transferred back to Russia. “Russian citizen Yuri Luzhkov has been barred from entering the Ukraine, beginning on 12 May, because, despite warnings, he continued to call for actions that threaten Ukrainian national interests and territorial integrity”, the Ukrainian Security Service said in a statement.

The Russian Black Sea Fleet currently uses a range of naval facilities in the Crimea under a 1997 agreement allowing Russia to lease the base from its ex-Soviet neighbour for $93 million per year until 2017, which is paid for by Moscow with Russian energy supplies. There have been frequent disputes between Russia and the Ukraine over the lease of the base. “This issue remains unresolved. We will resolve it for the sake of our state interests, for the sake of the lawful right that Russia has to the naval base of Sevastopol”, Mr Luzhkov said on Sunday during celebrations in Sevastopol to mark the 225th anniversary of the Black Sea Fleet.

According to Mr Luzhkov, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev gave the Crimea to the Ukraine in 1954 as “a token of brotherly love”, but, under a 1948 decree Sevastopol was assigned special city status “under the governing central authorities”, and, therefore, could not be included in the list of territories transferred to the Ukraine. “I do not want a split [between Russia and the Ukraine over the base], I just want to speak the truth”, Mr Luzhkov said, ignoring previous warnings from Ukrainian authorities not to repeat his numerous calls for the base to be handed over to Russia.

The Crimea, now an autonomous region within the Ukraine, is a predominantly Russian-speaking territory. Since the 1991 break-up of the Soviet Union, the Crimea has unsuccessfully sought independence from the Ukraine. A 1994 referendum in the Crimea supported demands for a broader autonomy and closer links with Russia. Last month, Aleksei Ostrovsky, the head of the State Duma committee on CIS affairs, said that Russia could reclaim the Crimea if the Ukraine was admitted to NATO. Media reports indicated that then-president Vladimir Putin issued a similar threat at a closed-door speech to NATO leaders at the Bucharest summit earlier in April.

12 May 2008

RIA-Novosti

http://en.rian.ru/world/20080512/107142320.html

Editor’s Note:

Many Americans are unaware that much of what they hear in the American mainstream media regarding the Ukraine is simply repetition of Galician Uniate propaganda. A hefty proportion of the “Ukrainian” population is actually Great Russian, and most non-Ukrainians of non-Russian groups prefer to speak Russian over “Ukrainian”. Polls indicate that most of the people are favourably inclined to Russia rather than the USA. In short, anything coming out of Kiev from “Orange” sources must be labelled “caveat auditor”. Thank you for speaking out, Mr Luzhkov. The truth had to be spoken.

BMD

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